Carmi-White County @ Fairfield - Black Diamond Conference East Division

Carmi-White County wins division title
Bulldogs hold off host Fairfield for first back-to-back league titles since 1964

02/17/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
FAIRFIELD - It has been a long time since the Carmi-White County Bulldogs won consecutive boy's basketball conference championships.

The last back-to-back titles came in the old North Egypt Conference in 1962-63 and again in 1963-64.

To put that into context, the second championship came about a couple of weeks after The Beatles made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Sixty-years is a long time without having won consecutive championships.

That drought is over.

Saturday night the Bulldogs accomplished the feat with a not-so-pretty victory at Fairfield.

The Dawgs' defense was the difference as they held the Mules to just eight-first half points and fended off the hosts' late rally in front of a large Senior Night crowd at the Mule Barn.

Coach Kevin Wolf's club trailed early in the first quarter but they put together a combination of stops and points to outlast Fairfield, 39-36.

Neither team played well offensively as the familiarity of rival programs sometimes produces contests like this type result.

This was the third meeting between the two teams as Fairfield had won the previous two encounters 44-43 at home back on January 12th and 49-47 back on January 19th at the Carmi-White County Invitational Tournament.

“It was two teams that know each other so well. I respect the heck out of (Fairfield) Coach McElravy and what he does with his program. It was just a game in which whoever could make the most plays down the stretch would win and our kids were able to do that tonight,” said Coach Wolf. “We played them three times this year and I have coached against them for nine-years. We know a lot of their stuff and they know a lot of our stuff.”

Fairfield had a one-game lead in the standings and could have clinched at least a share of the division title but they lost on the road at Flora on Tuesday, setting up the showdown for the championship.

“The crazy thing is that we have done it in all three games that we have played against them this year,” said Coach McElravy talking about the slow start. “And we came back both times we played them before. We lost our composure a little bit and forced some shots in the first half. I thought we rushed some things.”

The third matchup wouldn't be nominated for a beauty contest as the game resembled more of what would have taken place on the Train Yard football field outside.

Carmi-White County senior Landon Driscoll came up with some clutch shots and he made 8-of-10 free throws.

The Bulldogs canned 15-of-22 overall and 7-of-10 in the final quarter to secure the championship for the now 23-7 squad, 9-1 in the West Division.

Driscoll finished with a game-best 16-points while teammate junior Gavin Holloman added 10.

Kade Stockton, a 6-foot junior, added seven-points for Coach Kevin Wolf's club but he also led his team with eight-rebounds.

The Mules got 15-points from senior Layne Tucker and eight-points off of the bench from 5-8 junior guard Justice Dagg.

Dagg canned a pair of third quarter 3-pointers that helped get the Mules back into the contest.

Tucker scored the first four-points for Fairfield on a pair of foul shots and a nice finish at the rim as his team led 4-2 early.

Those two scoring trips were the only highlights of the first quarter for the hosts as they missed their other nine field goal attempts the remainder of the stanza, including all four of their 3-point shots.

Holloman finished off the quarter for the Bulldogs with a pair of scores, one on a fast break and the other on a baseline drive for a 7-4 first quarter ending.

The second quarter wasn't any better than the first for Coach McElravy and his Mules.

Two baskets; one by 6-3 freshman reserve forward Jaylen Maners and the second by senior guard Creson White.

Fairfield went the final 4:09 of the half without points.

Driscoll scored twice in the quarter with a drive inside to start a run and closed the half with a pair of free throws.

Stockton scored twice inside on a rebound stick back and on a nice assist from Holloman.

Six-five junior Mitchell Edwards was held to just four-points on 4-of-4 from the line but he hit two of them in the second quarter as the Bulldogs went to the half up 20-8.

(CONTINUED)

The host team rallied to make a game of it in the third quarter as they outscored CWC 17-8.

After getting into foul trouble, Coach Wolf switched his defense into a zone.

This opened up the floor for some outside shots.

Senior Landon Harrelson hit a 3-pointer and Maners scored in the lane.

Dagg nailed down both of his 3-point shots on consecutive trips down the floor, from the left wing and then the left corner.

When his second bomb found the mark, Fairfield was within two at 26-24 with 1:54 to go in the third quarter.

A free throw by White and a bucket from Driscoll sent the teams to the fourth quarter at 28-25 Bulldogs.

The Mules had their chances in the fourth quarter as they twice were within one-point of tying the score.

The second time came after another Dagg basket on a drive down the baseline as he got Edwards to commit his fifth foul.

Although the subsequent free throw was missed, the Mules were down just 34-33 with 1:55 left.

That, however, was as close as it would get.

The Mules missed their next four field goal attempts and Carmi-White County got a reverse lay in by Driscoll and 3-of-4 free throws by Holloman and Driscoll in the final seconds.

A 3-pointer by Harrelson, which appeared to be after the final horn, was counted.

The trey made the final margin just three-points.

“We're not a deep team so getting into foul trouble hurt us at times and tonight it did a little bit. But the guys weathered the storm,” said Coach Wolf. “That was a four-quarter game and our guys made the plays. Landon made a big shot (late) and Gavin made the free throws.”

Fairfield can point to making just 10-of-42 shots from the field (23.8 percent) and just 3-of-16 (18.7 percent) from the 3-point line as they fell to 19-12 overall, 8-2 in the conference.

The Bulldogs held a 23-16 rebounding advantage and they committed seven turnovers compared to four by Fairfield.

Carmi-White County didn't exactly shine offensively but they managed to get the win by being a bit more efficient shooting the ball (11-of-26 overall, 1-of-3 from the arc) with 42.3 percent as a whole.

“I was really proud of our third quarter. Our bench stepped up. We're much deeper than them (CWC) but we just missed some shots at the end that would have tied it,” said Coach McElravy. “Super proud of our second half but you can't spot a good team that many points in the first half, especially at our place.”

For the postseason that begins next week, these two clubs go in opposite directions feeding into two different sectionals.

Fairfield gets a first round bye and will play either Flora or Cumberland, who will play on Monday night, at the Vandalia Regional on Wednesday.

The regional feeds into the Shelbyville Sectional.

Carmi-White County, on the other hand, will get to host a first round game on Monday against Eldorado as part of the Massac County Regional.

The winner will play Vienna in the second semifinal on Wednesday.

This regional is part of the Benton Sectional.

“We talked about these are the teams you play against in all sports and that is the 13th one in our school history,” said Coach Wolf about winning the conference championship.

Black Diamond Conference East Division	1	2	3	4	-	F
Carmi-White County	07	13	08	10	-	39
Fairfield	04	04	17	11	-	36

Carmi-White County (39) - Holloman 2 1 3-6 10, Edwards 0 0 4-4 4, Driscoll 4 0 8-11 16, Stockton 3 0 1-2 7, Dixon 1 0 0-0 2, Millhorn 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-10/3FG-1/FT-15-22/PF-14.
Fairfield (36) - Easton 0 0 0-0 0, Dagg 1 2 0-1 8, J. Snyder 0 0 0-0 0, Harrelson 0 1 1-2 4, Tucker 2 1 8-10 15, Bliss 1 0 0-0 2 White 1 0 1-2 3, Maners 2 0 0-0 4, L. Snyder 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-7/3FG-3/FT-10-15/PF-20.
Fouled Out – Edwards - Carmi-White County.
Technical Fouls – None.